Participatory Orientation in GSL Research to Hear the Community: Who and How Matters

Abstract

In this article I analyze postcolonial theory as a critical framework to improve understanding of global service-learning (GSL) partnerships. Although research on student learning outcomes from participation in GSL has grown dramatically over the past decade, scholarship on community outcomes and perspectives in GSL continues to lag. Just as participation in GSL does not necessarily result in global learning outcomes for students without intentional programming, I argue that GSL research on community perspectives does not necessarily result in ethical community-university partnerships without interrogation of who is involved and how that research happens. In this article, I pull back the curtain to describe my positionality (who) and the methods utilized (how)—including the cautionary tales and challenges encountered—to provide an example of a participatory orientation to GSL research.